PRIME MINISTER
STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
The Sydney Morning Herald will tomorrow publish a story which is a complete
fabrication around a matter which arose nearly ten years ago.
Herald staff have leaked details of the story to financial markets, obviously
providing a picture which is damaging to me, through allegations which I can
assert have no basis whatsoever in fact.
That The Sydney Morning Herald should behave in this way is outrageous.
I am reliably informed that the journalists concerned were fed this fallacious
material by the Liberal Party.
The attached correspondence this week between my office and The SMH
makes it clear that any suggestion of improper dealing is utterly without
foundation. CANBERRA 27 October 1995 I~
OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER
CANBERRA
October, 1995
Ms Colleen Ryan and Mr David Humphries
The Sydney Morning Herald
By fax: 02 282 3005
Dear Ms Ryan and Mr Humphries
You have written to the Prime Minister about the global borrowing limits of the
Northern Territory in respect of a matter nearly ten years ago.
You insinuate in your questions that the Prime Minister had a conflict of
interest in proposing to the then Cabinet that the Northern Territory
Government be granted a right to borrow a global limit of monies to be
employed at its discretion for public works.
The Prime Minister had no conflict of interest whatsoever. He responded to
an express proposal from a Coalition Government in the Northern Territory
a proposal which was itself only agreed over time, and with offsets. The fact
that he was acquainted with Mr Anderson of Tipperary Developments, the
ultimate successful tenderer on the projects in question, was immaterial.
No Commonwealth tender was involved. It was not the Commonwealth doing
the borrowing or awarding the work it was a Territory setting its own
priorities and awarding work under its own processes. The Commonwealth
merely agreed an upper limit on what it might borrow in any particular year.
And even this figure was not binding on a State or Territory.
All State and Territory global borrowing limits include proposals for civic
works undertaken by many Australian construction firms and developers,
many of whom are and would be known personally to the Prime Minister or to
the Treasurer of the day.
You asked why the Prime Minister, when Treasurer, did not declare on his
Parliamentary Pecuniary Interest register travel to Tipperary Station in 1986
and 1987 on Mr Anderson's plane.
Mr Anderson invited the then Treasurer, a personal friend, to his property
only for the purpose of seeing and visiting that property. It had no connection
whatsoever with his duties as Treasurer. It was purely a private visit. Private
domestic travel and accommodation by personal friends is outside the scope
of the pecuniary interests register of Members or Ministers, as a cursory
perusal will reveal.
The Prime Minister visited the station Tipperary in 1986 and 1987 during its
development phase, and has not visited it since.
I have attached a copy of the relevant sections of the guidelines on
Ministerial interests. Were your interpretation of the rules for declarations to
be accepted, Members would have to declare all accommodation and travel
provided by any friend or relative.
At any rate Mr Keating's visits to Tipperary were well reported at the time,
especially when Mr Keating told a Canberra press conference that he had
recently been in the Territory " shooting pigs".
Let me conclude on the following points:
The Prime Minister regards these questions as not investigative journalism,
but simply harassment. Your editor-in-chief has confirmed that you were
sooled onto this non-story by the Liberal Party.
This issue has been raked over by Mr Keating's opponents years ago and
everything that needs to be known of it is known. He regards you both as
doing the Liberal and National parties' bidding. This issue is being hawked
about by them it does neither of you credit to take it up.
I know you must think yourselves hard-hitting investigative journalists but
this little effort locates you at the bottom of the journalistic food chain.
The Prime Minister has an unblemished record for probity over 26 years of
public life. Your sordid insinuations of a conflict of interest or corruption are
as fanciful as they are offensive. They are also defamatory. You would do
well to weigh your conspiracy theories carefully against the facts.
Yours sincerely
Greg Turnbull
Senior Media Adviser
-V J 1. U14 6
Gifts received by Minisitrs and thecir families from1 family memibers or personal friends in
a purely personal capacity need not bc disclosed unless the Minister judges that an
appcarancc of a conflict of interest might otherwisc arise.
212. FTravcl anod Hospirtality
Ministers, sponsored travel generally relaes to overseas travel becca use of thle
automatic travel entitlements they have within Australia. The rules regarding sponsored
overseas travel are as follows.
Overseas travel is to be regarded as sponsored where arty part of the costs, including
fares, accommodation and living expenses, is not borne by the Minister or the Australian
Government. Ministers should be aware of the possibility that conflicts of interests may arise or be
seen to arise through acceptance of sponsored ovcrseas travel by members of their
famnilie.. Ministers should not accept for themselves or for their families offcrs of sponsored
overseas travel from: any source, whether connect ed directly with their responsibilities or
riot, subject ( 0 the following.-
The Prime Minister tnay authorise acceptance of such travel in a particular case.
His athorisation should be sought in advance.
A Minister need not seek authorisation to accept guest of government
arrangements granted to the Minister during an official visit to a particular
country. ( In cases where there may be foreign policy implications in accepting
guest of government status, Ministers should consult the Minister for Foreign
Affairs.) Acceptance of incidental meals, entertainment and other hospitality in the course
of an overseas visit, including, for example, home accommodation offered on a
personal basis, is a matter for the judgment of the Minister having regard to any
conflict or appearance of tonflict between intere. it and duty that may arise.
If sponsored travel bt accepted under points or above, it must be disclosed. The
purposc of the spon~ sored travel should be shown. It is not necessary to disclose
acceptance of Ruest of government arrangemecnts see above granted during
official overseas visits.
Mhe rules regarding sponsored travel by Ministers within Australia are necessarily less
fixed. Hospitality ( which may or may not be associated with travel) is a related issue.
In deciding whether to ACCEPT sponsored travel or hospitality in Australia, a Minister
should exercise hist or her judgment having regard to any conflict or appearance of
conflict of interests that may arise.
GOVERNMENT DIVISION 7
In deciding whether any sponsored travel or hospitality which has been accepted in
Australia should be JtrJ. G ER1FD, the Minister should again exercise judgment. If travel
or hospitality has been accepted which may give rise to an appearance of a conflict of
interests, it should be disclosed.
In relation to hospitality, the Minister may find it helpful to consider the following
guidance provided to Members of the House of Representatives by the Registrar, to assist
Members in deciding what they n~ eed to disclose:
' Hospitality" refers to free or concessional accommodation providcd to the Mcnibcr, the
Memnbcr's spouse or dcpcndcnt children wholly or partly by any pcrson, organisation,
business or interest group or foreign Government or its reprcscntative. It includes the
provision of free or concessional meals provided as part of an accommodation
arrangement but does not include hospitality provided in a purely social way by friends or
colleagues. Entertainment rcceived from concerned constituents and intcrcst groups
legitimately exercising their powers of political persuasion, explanation, or argunicnt on
the mcrits of an issuc to further a particular cause or concern need not be included. Thcrc
is also no necd to include crcrtainmcnt receivcd in common with significant numbers of
othcr Members or persons such as a reception or dinner hostcd by a High Commiissioner
or Amnbassador.'
13. Membership of Organisations
P
Membership of all associations, professional and recreational, which have aimsr and
objectives which could be affected by Government action ( particularly in matters for
which they have portfolio responsibility), should be inclu~ ded unions or professional
associations). 14. Other Intcrests
List any other interest which, in the opinion of the Minister, holdLs the potential for a real
or apparent conflict of interest with thc Minister's duties to arise. GV. N9M4T DI1I5I0N41 . Naon. 026 P. 09
19/ 10/ 95 18: 55
T1e~ lbucV P"" mii. ArA
The Rt Hon P. 3. Keating,
rime Ministcr,
Parliailt House,
(. anbem 2601
Ucig Mr Keating,
We are preparing ani aniclc which cHnvamcs thc 1988 Loan Council decision W approvz an iflctcase in
the Northern Territory's global borrowing links which facilitated the funding of the Stale SqtIare
complex. We would appreciate it if you could isiiwcr the attached ques1iona oil your role In t e
approval. your declariiunos to the then Pime Minister, Mr Hawke, Cabilet and the E'xpenditurc
Review Cowmince, and your dcu1arminnt on the Pnrliaitientary pecuniary intircst register.
We look forward in your reply. We cai b. conrtacted by fsckituile on 02-2823405 or by phone on
02-21822325 or 02 2921794.
Youyncercly. Col7Ryan and David Hun hric
October 19, 1995 O.' liq Fill 201S aSWS. Syr uW W Pnisd sodmw-CPO9 5C % fl/ W 2W.
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003
* Why did you not declare a conflict of interest to the prime Minister, HrIawke, the Cabin~ o the
)' ipenditurt Review Committee i; n your 1988 decision to approve an increase in the Northern
Territury's borrowing limit, enabling it to build the State Square project, given that you knew hix
Warren Andem~ on stoud to benefit from the pri edti riotigh his comapany Tipperary Developments?
0 Do you think that you were rc~ aired to declare a cordlict of internal under the rules for Minixtefial
conduct e~ tabtished by Prime Minister Hawke in 1983 mid the Code of Conduct for Ministers adopted
by the Hawke government in 1987, given that a friend of yours, Mr Warren Anderson. stood to baritfit
from a decision tto approve an increas~ e in NT borrowing Urnitt which allowed the State Square proj&-t
to proceed?
Why didn't you declare on the. Parliamnentary pecuniiary interest register truvel to TipperaryStation
in 19X6 and 1987 ont Mr Anderson's plane?
Why didn't ynu declare on the pecuniary interest regiter aixommodation provided at Tipperary
Staior in July 1987?